Tag Archives: Saskatoon Blades

New people coming in will have to accept the Priestnersâ€™ hands-on approach, which is a direct contrast to the laid-back stylings of previous owner Jack Brodsky.

The new proprietors made it clear right from the start that they won’t, for example, allow a coach on their team to play a dull, trapping style of hockey – they want their fans to be entertained. Colin Priestner told reporters after dad Mike bought the team that while he wasn’t qualified to make trades or scout talent, “I will be actively involved within the dressing room.”

He kept that promise, maintaining regular dialogue with players within the locker-room, and it didn’t sit well with assistant coach Curtis Leschyshyn, a longtime NHLer who left the team last week.

“Those were some of the things that, as a player, I never saw in my career, nor do I think is part of the game,” Leschyshyn told our Daniel Nugent-Bowman when speaking about those frequent locker-room forays. “The room is a very special place for the players. It always should be that way.”

Those dynamics have been laid bare, the working conditions made readily apparent, so here’s the deal as the job hunt commences: If you’re uncomfortable with members of the ownership team hanging out in the locker-room, if you’d chafe at the hands-on approach the Priestners prefer … then Saskatoon’s not for you. Stay far away.

If you don’t see it as a big deal, then send in your resume and join the competition.

Molleken talked quietly Tuesday about “passing the torch.” while Hogle said the search crew will seek “candidates that have a rich hockey history, a tradition of success in the playoffs, who are leaders of culture.”

The new owners, while far from universally popular, talk a bold game when it comes to the Blades’ future. Much of the old guard has been swept away. A fresh canvas waits for either a masterpiece or a dud.

This 16-51-2-3 team is keeping things interesting, if nothing else.

I canâ€™t think of a single successful owner who is doing what Colin Priestner is doing here. Â Lots have tried it his way (Dan Snyder, James Dolan, Al Davis, George Steinbrenner, Mark Cuban in his early years) and it has never worked out. Â The owners job is to hire good people, set expectations, and let them do what they know how to do. Â Priestnerâ€™s way undermine the very thing that he says that he is trying to do.

At the press conference he said that he is going to be advised by ex Flames GM Craig Button. Â Really. Â Was Gord Stellick too busy? Â Button had a horrible run as Flames GM. Â In addition to not being able to assemble talent on the ice, his management tree doesnâ€™t have any notable limbs on it either. Â He struggled to find talent on and off the ice and now we are bringing him in as a consultant. Â

If Priestner isnâ€™t careful, he is going to so damage a product that when the AHL comes calling (and it will), the Blades will be looking for a new home.

The Saskatoon Blades won one game this entire post-season which is one more game than they won last post-season. Â Â It’s not exactly out of the ordinary for Mollekan, the Blades almost always flame out quickly in the WHL playoffs as you can see in the table below. Â The team motto could be, “If its spring, we are golfing”.

Regardless of whether or not we have home ice advantage or not, the Blades lose in the playoffs. Â Even this year where we went all in, traded young players and draft picks away, we still managed to get swept in the playoffs and only win one game in the Memorial Cup. Â Mollekan’s teams don’t win the in the playoffs or when the games matter.

Despite having one of the largest teams in the WHL, a profitable team, lots of resources at his disposal, and a city where people want to play in, we still can’t win in the playoffs. Â After a while it’s time to look at the coach.

The upcoming season, the cupboard is bare. Â Our top taken is playing elsewhere, we have no draft picks (although that can change with the need to ship out so many overage players), and we have ask, if Mollekan the right guy to do this again. Â He can coach us to the first round of the playoffs but then what? Â

The Blades need to look elsewhere. Â They went all in this season and look at the result. Â A long winning streak and one playoff win. Â That isn’t good enough in most markets.

25 years ago the Saskatoon Blades opened Saskatchewan Place with a game against the Brandon Wheatkings. Â That night I got a phone call with an offer to go to the game. Â Later that week I watched the Canadian Olympic Hockey Team practice in anticipation of some exhibition games they played at Saskatchewan Place. Â It was a big deal and an amazing stadium. Â Over the years I have seen a bunch of concerts, hockey games, World Junior Hockey Championships, and even some curling at now Credit Union Centre. Â The stadium is rather sterile but it’s ours and it’s fun to go tonight with some friends to watch the Blades play the Lethbridge Hurricanes (who when they were the Calgary Wranglers, where the first WHL team I ever saw play). Â It should be a fun game night. Â Monday I have a column out about Saskatchewan Place and stadium economics today. Â A lot has changed although I am glad the famous Blades Pac Man logo still makes an appearance from time to time.

Take the stairs to the top of The Lighthouse at least daily. This seems like a really good idea now that building is only four stories but when the new tower is nine stories this summer, it could be a really bad idea.

Carry less crap. There are days when I go to work with my DSLR, a video camera, my notebook, a Moleskine, an iPod, and my cell phone. Do I really need that much stuff? Well considering that I have never used all of it in a single day, probably not.

Read more books in 2012. Darryl Dash has a post on how he wants his reading to more focused which I tend to go the other way. I want to read and explore topics that I havenâ€™t explored before, understand new things, and then figure out how they fit together later. In the spirit of Thomas Homer-Dixonâ€™s book The Ingenuity Gap, I want to be a deep generalist. Part of it is the column I write but part of it is cultivating a spirit of curiosity. It may be because I am at a point of life when I have a lot to learn and I donâ€™t have the need to be a specialist.

Contribute more to the matrix of agencies that I am a part of as a staff member at The Lighthouse. Some of those actions are proprietary but I canâ€™t handle agencies that donâ€™t play that well with others. It comes from an atmosphere of fear and competition that doesnâ€™t need to exist. Hopefully we can model a different way.

Attend more University of Saskatchewan Huskies and Saskatoon Hilltops games. The Huskies may have the best game day experience of any football team in Canada and the Hilltops because of what they did for Markâ€™s understanding of football in 2011. That and all they do is win national championships.

Post more photos. Despite having a decent camera phone camera, a DSLR, and a pretty good compact camera, I took far too photos in 2011. That needs to change in 2012.

Keep losing weight in 2012. I lost 40 pounds since my heart event this summer and I want to lose another 120. I should have it lost by next Christmas.

Listen to more music. I love music but I rarely take time to listen to it. Itâ€™s always a background activity and never a foreground one.

Welcome

This is a weblog about urban issues, technology, & culture published by Jordon Cooper since 2001. You can read about me and the site here and if you are looking for one of my columns in The StarPhoenix, you can find them here.